I am always wondering about the psycological implications of a uniform, or the need to create one, in an environment where none is required? Not picking on you, but is part of the reason you feel the need due to the absence of the over regulated atmosphere you just exited? You started something new why bring your old mindset with you? I think its wonderful to try new approaches even with something as small as how to dress.
I try not to wonder about the psychological implications of what other people do because it is not a productive activity. I spend a great deal of time observing and thinking about other people's deeds (not thoughts or mindset) because by doing that I can learn what works and what does not work.
To explain; I observe that expediter teams who haul 12 loads a month tend to make more money than those who haul 6 loads a month. If my interest is in making money and I wish to emulate those who make more of it, I do not need to know why teams do what they do or how they feel about it, I need only haul more loads a month, not fewer.
At FedEx Custom Critical, Diane and I wore the company uniform with pride at every pick up and delivery. We experienced first hand the positive difference it made at the loading docks. Not wanting to leave those advantages behind, we created a uniform when we found none made available by our new carrier.
Let me give you an example. At one of our very first Landstar pick ups, we pulled into the shipper's lot and found another Landstar truck already there. The driver came to greet us and we chatted while waiting for the company to open.
At 8:00 a.m. the three of us went inside and entered a six-dock loading dock area from which we could see the warehouse and offices. No one was there at first but after a few minutes the loading dock crew arrived for work. Seeing the three of us, the loading dock supervisor approached, making eye contact and starting the conversation not with the other driver who looked like most other truck drivers out there, but with me, the uniformed Landstar driver.
It's a small difference but one that has translated into numerous advantages at numerous pick ups and deliveries over the years. More often than not (not always, but more often than not) uniformed drivers get noticed more quickly and treated with more respect than those not in uniform.
I have worked in a wide range of jobs and careers, ranging from a U.S. Army officer to a section laborer on a railroad crew (gandy dancer) to a stockbroker. A uniform was required in the Army and I wore mine well. I felt no need to wear anything other than work clothes when pounding spikes on the railroad because sales and marketing were not part of the job. As a stockbroker I wore the uniform of the day because my clients, peers and broker-dealer expected to see stockbrokers in expensive business suits and ties.
At Landstar, sales and marketing is part of the job. Having experienced first hand the sales and marketing advantages of wearing a FedEx uniform, and knowing well how to dress for success (there is a book by that title), it was a natural choice to create a Landstar uniform when none was otherwise available.
You may not agree that there are sales and marketing advantages to be gained by wearing a uniform at Landstar and that's fine. One of the things that makes Landstar great is the freedom BCOs have to chart our respective courses and run our business as we see fit.
I have no doubt that that there are hundreds of Landstar BCOs who appreciate the fact that they no longer have to wear the uniform they were once required to wear by whatever carrier they left. It is one of the benefits they see at Landstar. It is a plus to them that they don't' have to wear a uniform. It is a plus to Diane and me that we can wear a uniform if we wish.
As I said, I try not to wonder about the psychosocial implications of what other people do because it is not a productive activity. But since you are given to such wondering, I invite you to wonder about this.
What is it about uniforms that prompt people to have conversations like this? Drivers do not talk about apparel when a bunch of them are standing around and some are wearing boots and some are wearing shoes, and some are wearing blue jeans and some are wearing shorts, and some are wearing T-shirts and some are wearing shirts with collars. But put two drivers in that same group in a uniform, it will commonly happen that one of the non-uniformed drivers will bring the conversational topic around to why uniforms should not be worn.
What's up with that?
